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How Central Asia Is Shifting From Russia Towards Turkey

For Turkey, a NATO member and EU hopeful, the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) is an instrument that helps Ankara increase its presence in the strategically important region of Central Asia. For Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, the Turkish-dominated group seems to be a tool that allows them to achieve their economic goals, while also continuing to distance themselves from Russia. Although Moscow still has a relatively strong foothold in Central Asia, it does not seem able to prevent the growing role of the Organization of Turkic States in the post-Soviet space. This entity – whose members are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan, while Turkmenistan, Hungary, and the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus hold observer status – has the potential to eventually serve as a counterbalance not only to Russian, but also Chinese influence in the region. Since its foundation in 2009, the OTS has held ten summits of its leaders. Over this period, the intergovernmental organization’s working bodies have also convened dozens of times. On November 5-6 in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, the OTS heads of states will meet for the eleventh time to discuss the future of the Turkic world. Although the agenda has yet to be announced, it is believed that the OTS leaders will seek to strengthen economic cooperation between its members. Currently, their major trade partners are nations outside the bloc. For instance, Turkey’s largest trading partner is Germany, Azerbaijan’s is Italy, while China has recently become Kazakhstan’s biggest trade partner with bilateral trade hitting $31.5 billion. For neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, China and Russia remain the most important economic partners. One of the group’s major problems is the fact that its members, excluding Turkey, are landlocked countries heavily-dependent on Russia and China geographically. Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, as major energy exporters, rely on oil and gas pipelines traversing Russian territory to reach their customers in Europe. It is, therefore, no surprise that the Organization of Turkic States governments’ agreed in September to create a simplified customs corridor, aiming at reducing the number of documents required for customs operations and customs procedures between OTS member states. In other words, they plan to increase trade among themselves. According to Omer Kocaman, OTS Deputy Secretary-General, the Turkic nations are also looking to “continue cooperation to stimulate positive changes in their financial systems.” That is why the organization has recently launched the Turkic Investment Fund – the first joint financial institution for economic integration of the Turkic countries, with an initial capital of $500 million. Kyrgyzstan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced on October 17 that, starting in January 2025, the Turkic Investment Fund will begin financing major joint projects in OTS nations. However, in July, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the current structure of the Organization of Turkic States does not meet its established goals, and that its budget is insufficient for their implementation. In order to change that, on October 19, ministers of economy and trade of the OTS nations met in Bishkek to...

Ashgabat Hosts Turkic Writers’ Forum

On October 18-19, leading cultural and literary figures gathered in Ashgabat, to attend a forum of Turkic writers organized within the program “Anau—Cultural Capital of the Turkic World 2024". With a focus on the importance of preserving and developing common cultural heritage, the event attracted representatives of the writers' unions of Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, as well as prominent cultural figures of Turkmenistan. Honored guests included Ulugbek Esdevlet, president of the TURKSOY Writers' Union, and Sultan Raev, secretary general of the organization, who in his address, emphasized: “This forum is a unique platform for demonstrating the rich literary heritage of the Turkic world and passing on our common cultural heritage to future generations.” During the forum, the Union of TURKSOY Writers held a meeting to discuss promising projects for developing the literature of Turkic-speaking peoples, including programs to support young authors, the expansion of translation activities, and the organization of international literary contests. In addition to complementary activities such as poetry readings, the forum afforded students from the Turkmen State Institute of Culture, a unique opportunity to engage with prominent writers.

OTS Countries Take Steps Towards Turkic Integration

On October 18, Bishkek hosted the 13th meeting of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), wherein Ministers of Economy and Trade aimed to strengthen economic cooperation between the OTS member states. The OTS, currently comprising Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, with Hungary and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as observers, was founded in 2009 to foster comprehensive cooperation among Turkic-speaking nations. During the meeting, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Akylbek Japarov, stated that in recent years, Kyrgyzstan's trade turnover with the OTS member states has grown by almost 62%, with Kyrgyz exports increasing by 54.6%, and imports by 66%. The Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan, Nurlan Baibazarov, emphasized Kazakhstan’s adherence to the development of Turkic integration and announced that the "Turkic Investment Fund created within the OTS demonstrates a common desire to expand economic and investment cooperation, implement joint investment projects, and attract capital, technology, and talent for our countries' dynamic growth and prosperity." OTS ministers supported Kazakhstan's initiatives to create a Green Finance Council, a Council of Central (National) Banks of the OTS member states, and the inauguration of the Turan Special Economic Zone in the Kazakh city of Turkestan, where the next meeting will be held. In January-August 2024, trade between Kazakhstan and the OTS countries amounted to $7.2 billion, and according to the Turkish Ministry of Finance, by the end of 2024, the Turkic states are poised to play an important role in the world economy, reaching an economic volume of $1.9 trillion and a population of 178 million. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia,  the Turkic Investment Fund, with an authorized capital of $1 billion, will begin financing major joint projects of the OTS member countries from January 2025.

Turkic Investment Fund to Begin Financing Projects

Following the participation of its head, Temir Sariev, in a meeting of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the Turkic states in Istanbul on October 16, Kyrgyzstan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced that from January 2025, the Turkic Investment Fund, with an authorized capital of $1 billion, will begin financing major joint projects of member countries of the Organization of Turkic States. The Organization of Turkic States, currently comprising Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, with Hungary and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as observers, was founded in 2009 to foster comprehensive cooperation among Turkic-speaking nations. The Turkic Investment Fund, aimed to mobilize the economic potential of the Organization of Turkic States member states, strengthen trade and economic cooperation, and implement joint projects in infrastructure, renewable energy, agriculture, tourism, and IT, was established at the extraordinary summit of the Organization of Turkic States in March 2023 in Ankara. Founding members include Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. Hungary joined in June 2024, and Turkmenistan has an observer status. After the inaugural meeting of the Fund's Board of Governors in Istanbul in May 2024, the Turkish Ministry of Finance declared that by the end of 2024, the Turkic states are poised to play to an important role in the world economy, reaching an economic volume of $1.9 trillion and a population of 178 million.

Adoption of Latin-Based Common Turkic Alphabet

The Turkic Academy has announced that the Turkic World Common Alphabet Commission is to adopt a Latin-based Common Turkic Alphabet consisting of 34 letters. At a meeting in Baku (Azerbaijan) on September 9-11, the Commission finalized its two-year development of a proposed standard alphabet for Turkic languages in which each letter in represents different phonetic sounds in Turkic languages. Emphasizing its historic significance, the Turkic Academy stated that the development of the Common Turkic Alphabet, first proposed by scientists in 1991, promotes mutual understanding and cooperation among the Turkic peoples while preserving their linguistic heritage. Based in Astana, Kazakhstan, the Turkic Academy is an international organization established under the Organization of Turkic States. Founding member states include Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Türkiye, with Hungary and Uzbekistan joining as observers in 2018 and 2022, respectively.  The Organization of Turkic States currently comprising Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with Hungary and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as observers, was founded in 2009 to foster comprehensive cooperation among Turkic-speaking nations. The alphabet issue in post-Soviet Turkic-speaking countries dates back to 1929, when the Soviet government replaced traditional Arabic-based alphabets used by Muslim minorities in the Soviet Union with Latin-based national alphabets. In 1940, the Latin alphabet was replaced with Cyrillic, used for the Russian language. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan switched to Latin-based alphabets, while Uzbekistan has used both Latin and Cyrillic alphabets since 1992. In 2017, Kazakhstan's then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered the government to develop a Latin-based alphabet for the Kazakh language. The switch, initially planned for 2025, was then postponed till as late as 2031. Citing the complexity of a transition from the Cyrillic to a Latin-based alphabet, in June 2022, Nazarbayev's successor, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that linguistic reform should not be rushed. Kyrgyzstan is the only post-Soviet Turkic-speaking nation committed to the use of the Cyrillic alphabet. Talk about switching from Cyrillic to Latin in post-Soviet Central Asia has always irritated Moscow, which considered such moves by the former Soviet republics as a means of distancing themselves from Russian influence.

Paving the Path Westward: Insights from the Astana and Shusha Summits

The informal OTS summit in Shusha, hosted at the invitation of Ilham Aliyev, centered on the theme of "Building a Sustainable Future through Transportation, Connectivity and Climate Action." Attendees included Presidents Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, Ersin Tatar of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, and OTS Secretary General Kubanychbek Omuraliev. In place of Erdoğan, who was in Germany supporting the Turkish national soccer team ahead of a crucial Euro 2024 quarter-final against the Netherlands, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz attended. Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov was also absent due to hosting UN Secretary-General António Guterres in Ashgabat. Notably, the Shusha summit occurred just two days after the meeting of SCO leaders in Astana, which drew an exceptional amount of attention from international observers due to the participation of the Russian and Chinese leaders. The intrigue surrounding the SCO summit was linked to its closed session, attended only by the Shanghai Ten. At the summit, only the speech delivered by Tokayev was made available to the press. Speeches made in the subsequent SCO+ format sessions were made public, wherein Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping underscored the need for a multi-polar world, suggesting that the SCO members had discussed shifting away from Western cooperation towards the Global South. At the Shusha summit Aliyev highlighted Azerbaijan's commitment to strengthening ties within the Turkic world, emphasizing the importance of the political, economic, and military consolidation of Turkic States as a global power center. Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan has consistently sought to unite the Turkic world and enhance its influence on the global stage, stressing that the OTS should seek to emerge as a significant global power. "We cover a large geographical space and positive demographic dynamics are observed in the member countries. Our greatest assets are our rich natural resources, modern infrastructure for their delivery, transportation corridors connecting Central Asia and the Caucasus with Mediterranean and Black Sea ports, and our rich and ancient history and culture. The commitment of our people to traditional values and ethnic commonality closely unites our countries. The 21st century should become the century of prosperity of the Turkic world," the Azerbaijani leader emphasized. Aliyev also addressed the primary tasks which lie ahead for the OTS, referencing the Astana Declaration of the SCO, which designates Central Asian republics as the organization's foundation. Leaders of these republics who attended the summit in Shusha, Tokayev, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and Sadyr Japarov, endorsed Aliyev's call for the expansion of the East-West transport corridor connecting Central Asia and Eurasia to Europe. Aliyev further highlighted the Digital Silk Road project, which aims to establish a fiber-optic telecommunication route between Europe and Asia via the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan. Furthermore, when the President of Kazakhstan delivered his speech, he stressed the significance of the Trans-Caspian International Transportation Route. "The potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route should be fully utilized. Today, the volume of container transportation along this corridor has...